Generator Rex: What if Part 2?
by YellowAngela
Summary: What if Circe went looking for her parents? What if she found them? What were they like then and are like now? What would she say to the pair who abandoned her so many years ago when she went EVO? What would they say to her? Life is complicated. Written as a request. This takes place in an alternate timeline. Not a part of my universe.
1. Chapter 1

**I got a request to write a story about Circe reconciling with her parents. In my own headcanon, her parents are dead. You'll notice their lack of presence in my stories. I was asked to give it a happy ending so I must therefore make it another AU. Circe's life story is influenced somewhat by SunBinamra's story Hear Me Roar. I wrote this thinking about the events in SunBinamra's story. The story is rated M so if you want to read it , you'll have to change your rating filter. There's nothing in there that's terrible (ie. smut) but there are adult situations. Read the warnings. On another note, if you haven't read SunBinamra's stories, you should. Her writing and stories are excellent. So I hope you and the person I wrote this for enjoys this story.**

 **I do not own GenRex or this idea.**

"So then Rex said _I want ballet shoes too!_ " Caesar ended his story.

Everyone burst out laughing, except Rex.

"I don't remember that." Rex pouted. "I'm pretty sure you made that up, bro."

"I have pictures somewhere of you wearing a tutu." Caesar began rummaging through his pockets.

"No, no. You don't have to show us nada." Rex objected.

"Says you! I want to see." Noah interjected.

Walter, Tuck, and Claire echoed their desire to see Rex in a tutu as well. Beverly and Cricket noticed that Circe was very quiet.

"Hey, you okay?" Cricket nudged her friend.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, fine." She said unconvincingly.

"Are you sure? You don't seem like yourself." Beverly added.

"I'm tired. I think I'll turn in." Circe quickly said.

"It's only 7." Beverly protested.

"Yeah, it was a long day." Circe said getting up and stretching. "See you guys in the morning. She left the group. Beverly watched her go with a worried expression. When she was out of earshot, she shoved Rex.

"Go talk to her." She ordered.

"Quewha?" Rex asked surprised. "Talk to who?"

Cricket smacked him over his head. "Your girlfriend, you numb nut."

"About what?" Rex asked still confused.

"Look, clearly something is bothering her. Go see what it is." Beverly said.

"Then why don't you two go? You girls are always talking about… girl stuff." Rex grumbled.

"Rex," Beverly took a deep breath. "This is a job for her boyfriend. So go be a good one and go talk to her."

"Or so help us, we'll kick your butt." Cricket snapped.

"Okay, okay, jeeze." Rex complied reluctantly. He got up and followed after Circe.

"He's so clueless." Cricket shook her head.

"He'll learn someday." Beverly said confidently.

"Hopefully, before he gets killed." Cricket noted.

0o0

Rex walked sulkily to Circe's room. When he got there he pulled his hands out of his pocket. Knocking once, he got no answer. He tried again with no response. Rex started drumming on the door with his hands when the door slid open and he accidently smacked Circe in the face.

"Owww! What the heck?" She clutched her face.

"Oh, oh, oh, I'm so sorry." Rex gasped. He tired to get a look at the damage.

"I think you broke my nose." Circe went back inside her room. Rex followed her, continuing to babble.

"You didn't answer the first time so I thought I'd try to get your attention." Rex explained.

"By playing a mamba on my face?" Her voice was muffled in the bathroom.

"I didn't know you were going to open the door so suddenly." Rex protested. "Let me see." When there was no response, he added. "Please?"

Circe came out with eyes narrowed.

Rex sucked in his breath. "Well… it's not too bad. The bruise should go away in two or three days. You can hide it with some make up."

"What do you want, Rex?" Circe sighed tiredly.

"Uh, you looked upset so I thought you'd… you know want to talk and junk." Rex shrugged.

"Did Cricket or Beverly put you up to it?" She asked.

"Kinda both." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

Circe nodded. "Should have known." She walked past him and plopped onto her bed. "I'm fine, Rex. You can go. I release you to the wild to places where you don't have to have awkward conversations."

"Okay, that was sarcasm. I can be sarcastic too." He paused trying to think of something sarcastic to say. "I love awkward conversations. Caesar's my brother, after all. So tell me what's bothering you… unless it's girl problems. I don't need to know about that."

Circe laughed in spite of herself. "You're so stupid… but cute." She sat up and looked at him. "You're lucky you have a brother."

"Okay?" Rex looked confused. "Is this some weird girl-speak for something?"

Circe threw her pillow at him. "Just shut up and listen if you really want to know."

Rex caught the pillow in midair. "Sorry, sorry. Please continue, oh mercurial one."

"You have family, Rex. You had a mom and a dad who loved you. You still have a brother, and for all his faults, he cares about you. You have Abuela in Mexico. You have Six and Dr. Holiday. Heck, you even have Bobo!" The words tumbled out of her mouth in a rush of anger. "And I'm alone." With her final words, it seemed like her whole body deflated and she became small. She pulled her legs up to her chest and placed herhead between her knees.

"Are you going to cry? Oh gosh, don't cry. Uh, uh, you're not alone. I'm here…. And do you need a tissue? Where are the tissues? Oh bathroom." Rex got up in a panic.

"Relax. I'm not crying." Circe pulled her head up and glared at him.

Rex gave a sigh of relief. "Great, because I don't do well with crying."

Circe placed her feet on the ground and looked at Rex. "I'm fine now. You can go."

Rex almost took her at her word but stopped when he really saw her face. Instead of leaving he sat next to her.

"What happened to your parents?" He asked.

Circe looked away and shrugged. "When they found out I was an EVO they kicked me out. But they weren't much of parents anyway. Always too self-absorbed to care about me. I think father always wanted a son and mom wanted to live vicariously through me. Did you know I took ballet?" She suddenly stood up and without warning, Rex was looking at her standing on the tip of her toes. Then just as sudden she fell back on the bed. "Ow, that still hurts." She rubbed her feet.

"I didn't know that." Rex said awed.

"Yeah, there's a lot you don't know." Circe said grimly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Rex asked.

"You never asked." Circe said.

"Yes, I did! You always give me that look so I assumed you don't want to talk about…" Rex stopped. "Oh wait, it's one of those I have to make you talk about it type things, isn't it?"

"It's in the past. It wasn't pleasant and I don't want to relive it." Circe answered.

"Well, how about the future?" Rex asked.

Circe turned to look at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, a long time has past. People change." Rex said. Then a second later his eyes lit up. "Hey, we should find them!"

"What?" Circe stared at him.

"Yeah, it's been years. I'm sure they must have been worried about you." Rex continued.

"Were you listening?" Circe huffed. "They threw me out."

"Family does all sorts of stupid things, like when Caesar didn't bother telling me that I had the meta-nanite and tried to protect me by slapping an EVO collar on me." Rex said. "But deep down we do things because we care about each other."

"I fail to see how throwing me out shows their care." Circe said dryly.

"What can it hurt?" Rex asked.

"Hmmm, years in therapy perhaps?" Circe countered.

"There's no guarantee we'd find them anyway. And if we don't then that's cool. But if we do, you can have some closure and gain a whole new family." Rex said enthusiastically. "Come on, aren't you even a little curious?"

"I… guess?" Circe was hesitant. "This could be a healing experience or it could rip open old wounds and rub salt into it."

"I'll be with you every step of the way." Rex said softly.

Circe looked into his bright, honest eyes. Against her better judgment, she nodded. "All right."

"Great! We start first thing in the morning." He beamed. Giving her a kiss on the forehead, he bounded up and left.

"What have I done?" She wondered out loud.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own.**

The next morning, Circe walked into the cafeteria. She saw Rex with their friends from Hong Kong as well and Beverly. They all turned and stared when she walked in.

"Uh, guys? What's going on?" She asked nervously.

"We're all going to help find your parents!" Cricket announced.

Circe glared at Rex. "You told everyone?"

"No, not everyone… just everyone that can help." Rex amended.

Circe looked around the table. "No offense, but how is anyone here helpful."

"Hey, more eyes the better." Rex declared.

Circe face palmed. "Rex, we're not looking for a missing dog here. These are people who may not want to be found."

"Exactly! That's why we need more people to help with the search… do legwork and surveillance… and," Rex had clearly run out of what to say. "Stuff." He concluded.

"Hey, Circ. If you want to keep this private, we understand." Walter piped up.

Circe sighed as she pulled a chair up the round table to join them. "Look, it's not that I'm not grateful that you guys want to help…" She shot a glare at Rex. "I'm not even sure I want to find my parents, you know? We didn't part on very good terms."

"Then maybe we shouldn't look for them." Tuck said.

"Yeah, parents are over-rated anyway. I didn't have any, and I turned out fine." Walter sniffed.

"You're a sarcastic pessimist who is full of passive aggressive rage." Tuck pointed out.

"And people love me for it." Walter leaned back in his chair with a smirk.

"I'm sure Kenwyn would beg to differ." Cricket rolled her eyes.

"Anyway," Rex cleared his throat to get their attention. "I think we should help Circe find her parents so she doesn't turn into Walter."

"I'm right here." Walter said.

"Fine, whatever." Circe said without any enthusiasm.

"That's the spirit!" Rex smiled.

"So where do we start?" Beverly spoke for the first time.

"Well, uh… that is… we start… at the beginning." Rex declared.

"You really haven't thought this through have you?" Beverly sighed.

"I thought about asking you guys for help." Rex hedged.

Beverly pulled out a file from the bag. "Well, it's a good thing you have me."

Everyone leaned in to look. Rex opened the cover to reveal papers with some newspaper clippings.

They each picked up something from the file.

"Mutant outbreak devastates town." Tuck read one headline.

"Farmhouse destroyed by former farmer turned freak." Walter noted. "That's a lot of alliteration."

"Families ripped apart by the mysterious disease." Cricket looked at the caption. "Wait, Circe is that… you?" She pushed the paper toward her.

Circe looked at the grainy picture. A sullen looking girl stared back at her. She was holding hands with two familiar figures.

"Oh my gosh." She gaped. "Beverly? How?"

Beverly leaned back with a satisfied smile. "My detecting skills have improved greatly since last I decided to play detective… that and dumb luck." She leaned forward. "When Rex told me that we were going to look for your parents, I spent all night typing all the information you told me into different search engines."

"I didn't tell you much about my past." Circe muttered.

"No, you told me where you were born, where you lived, and most importantly your last name." Beverly said.

"You have a last name?" Rex asked surprised.

"Of course, I have a last name." Circe groaned. "What did you think?"

"I don't know. I mean, Six doesn't have a last name. Madonna doesn't have a last name." Rex said.

"Her last name is Ciccone." Walter interrupted.

"How did you know that?" Cricket stared at him.

Walter shrugged. "Useless information is my forte."

"I thought art was your forte." Tuck said.

"I'm a man of many talents." Walter exaggerated a bow.

"So after several hours of bupkis I finally decided to type the information into newsfeeds. And Voilà these articles show up." Beverly continued as if she was never interrupted. "So from these leads I was able to access hospital records…"

"Hospital records? Aren't they protected?" Walter asked skeptically.

"Well, you know since Becca has access to so many computers in the world… anyway, it doesn't matter how I hacked… I mean got them." Beverly waved her hand dismissively. "The important thing is that there's a…"

"Birth certificate." Circe took a good look at the paper in her hand. "It's my birth certificate."

Beverly nodded. "With your parent's name. From there it was just an easy search for all the people with those names."

Rex looked at the paper in his hands. "There's over a hundred names on this list."

"Yeah, you'd be surprised how common those names are." Beverly said.

"There's 12 letters in this last name!" Rex exclaimed.

"Yeah, now you see why I don't ever use my last name." Circe grumbled.

"I didn't know you were Greek." Tuck scratched his head.

"With a name like Circe?" Circe raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you changed your name like The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, who then changed it back to Prince." Tuck said.

"His last name is Nelson." Walter said suddenly.

"So which one of these people is Circe's parents?" Rex asked Beverly.

"How should I know? I already did all the hard stuff, now you guys should call them and ask." Beverly pushed her chair back. "I have to go help Caesar. The last time I left him alone this long, he…"

The alarms went off. Several screaming grunts whose head was smoking ran into the cafeteria. One stuck his head under the soda fountain. Another jumped over the counter and used the hose from the sink to spray his head. Still other ran to the salad bar and dumped the bucket of ranch dressing over himself.

"Oh good grief." Beverly muttered to herself as she quickly left the cafeteria.

"Well, I guess we get calling." Rex tore the paper into fourths.

"How come I got the most names?" Walter complained.

"Because you're so personable." Cricket joked.

"Yeah, I'll trade you." Rex switched with Walter. "I don't want you scaring anyone away.

"So what do we say? _Did you abandon your EVO child seven years ago? If you did, I have good news. She's here and wants to talk to you. Hello? Hello?_ " Walter mimicked a call.

"Well, obviously we have to have more finesse." Rex told him.

"Rex, your idea of finesse is hitting something with a golf club until it cracks or you broke the club." Tuck said.

"Shut up. I do have finesse." Rex pulled out his phone and dialed the first number.

The others could hear the phone ringing. Then there was a familiar click. "Hello?" Someone asked tentatively.

"Hi, am I speaking to Jason… " Rex pronounced the last name the best he could. "Because if you are, I'm here with the daughter you gave up seven years ago."

The others strained to listen to the answer but couldn't. All they could hear was Rex's uh-huh's.

"Okay, thanks anyway." Rex hung up. "Um, he's not it."

Everyone smacked their foreheads.

"This is going to be a long day." Walter muttered.

 **I apologize if I wasn't clear before. This is an AU. If you notice my mainstream stories, I never mention Circe's parents. That's because in my head they are dead and she's an orphan. But since I was asked to write this, they obviously can't be gone. Also for those of you who were worried about the very dark tone in SunBinamra's story, just to be clear, I'm only using the relationship part with her parents. Nothing that happens after her parents throw her out will be mentioned. I hope that puts your mind at ease. For those of you who don't want to read the story, the summary is that her parents are stuck up and emotionally distant towards Circe. When they find out that she's an EVO, they throw her out in fear.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy Mother's Day!**

 **I do not own.**

Walter tossed his clipboard across the desk. It hit the edge with a bang and landed on the floor with a sharp crack. Everyone jumped in surprise.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you guys. But I'm done… both literally and figuratively. Not one person on my list knows what I'm talking about and a few just thought I was a telemarketer." Walter got up and stretched. "I hate talking to people. You know I don't even like ordering take out. I'm going to get myself some chips. Waste of time."

Circe couldn't help but agree. She too had almost run out of names to call. Some of the numbers were disconnected, others she left a message. The others looked like they had the same amount of luck. Only one number left on her list. Then she could join Walter in some chips.

Dialing the number, she listened to the rings. When she heard the click, she automatically went into her rehearsed speech. "Hello, I'm looking for Jason…"

"Circe?" A female's voice responded hesitantly.

Suddenly, everything around her froze in time. It was just her and the speaker on the phone.

"Yes, this is Circe." She said in a strained voice.

"Oh my lord! I can't believe. I prayed every day that you were all right." The woman on the other end sobbed.

"M…m…mother?" Circe's voice was no higher than a whisper.

"Circe, darling, where are you? Are you okay? Wait, don't go anywhere. We'll come and get you." The woman babbled.

"No, no. Stop." Circe was saying it as much to her mother as to herself. Her already chaotic world was threatening to spin completely out of control. "Mother, I'm fine. I've been fine for many years now." That was partially true. "Why don't I come to you? Where do you want to meet?"

There was silence on the other end as if she was taken back by the question. "Well, how about we meet at a public place like a coffee shop?"

"Sure." Although Circe would have suggested a public place as well, she felt slightly hurt that her family would not want her to go directly to their house. Circe picked up a pencil and wrote down the time and place. "Yes, I got it. Oh, would you mind if I bring my boyfriend?"

"You have a boyfriend?" Her mother sounded surprised.

"Yes, I do." Circe wondered why she would be surprised.

"Of course, bring him. We'd love to meet him." Her mother recovered smoothly.

"Sure, see you soon." Circe hung up. Leaning back into her chair, the world resumed its activity.

"Well, that's the last one." Tuck announced hanging up his phone.

"Me too." Rex put his clipboard down.

"Count me out." Cricket groaned. "How did you do, Circ? Circ?" She noticed for the first time Circe staring off into space.

"I found them." She said flatly.

For a second, no one responded. Then all at once they began speaking at the same time.

"What? How? Where are they? What did they say? Are you okay? Anyone want a chip?" The last question was from Walter, who just stepped into the room.

Everyone glared at him.

"What?" He asked. "If you don't want any, more for me." He crunched into a chip.

0o0

"Wow, I can't believe you found her." Kenwyn said as she mixed her mash potato with gravy.

Family dinner night on Fridays was still a tradition when Rex was at Providence. Kenwyn was there. Everyone at the table brought her up to speed to Circe's situation. All eyes were on Circe who listlessly stabbed at her meatloaf.

"Yeah. I can't believe it either." Circe said. "I mean they kick me out for being an EVO and then she sounded so excited to hear from me…. I don't know what to think."

Holiday and Six gave each other a look before Holiday turned to Circe. "That's a lot to take all at once. How are you feeling?"

Circe thought a moment before laying her fork down. "I'm not sure how I feel. It's like there's so much… sometimes it's so overwhelming, I can't even breathe." She looked down.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm here for you." Rex placed an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze.

She gave him a wry smile. "Thanks. But no offense, it doesn't really make me feel any better."

"Well, I say you shouldn't go." Walter piped up.

Everyone looked at him.

"Why not?" Kenwyn asked.

"They haven't been parents to her for the last seven years. Why subject yourself to all that drama?" Walter said aloofly.

"That doesn't mean they still aren't her parents." Kenwyn protested. "Family is family, no matter what."

"Puh, where does it say that just because you're born into a family, it makes you family?" Walter scoffed. "This is my family." He pointed to his old gang.

"As nice a sentiment as that is, I think Circe should go see them." Cricket interjected. "She needs to clear the air."

"Why? How does that help?" Walter countered. "It's just gonna bring up old hurts."

"Which needs to be addressed." Cricket interrupted.

"I agree with, Crick." Tuck added.

"Of course you would. She's your girlfriend." Walter sniffed.

"No, but if you run away from things, you just become bitter and resentful." Tuck argued.

"Look, families can be toxic and I say cut your losses and enjoy the family you make." Walter leaned back.

"But families also teach you how to get along because you can't choose family." Beverly spoke up. "If you surround yourself with people you like, you can't grow. You just get an echo chamber."

"Hey, you got a great family. Some of us don't have that kinda luck." Walter responded.

"See them, don't see them. You humans make such a big deal about everything." Bobo looked up from his food. "Family is what you make of it."

"See, the monkey gets it." Walter nodded.

"Yeah, family is what you make of it but if you can't make it in your family, you're going to have dysfunction in the rest of your relationships too." Kenwyn said.

"You know, I always found it fascinating how _homo sapiens_ are constantly seeking community or a family. Psychologist found that our brains are wired to seek it out." Caesar shoveled a spoonful of mash potatoes into his mouth.

Everyone waited for him to continue.

"And?" Rex prompted.

Caesar looked at him surprise. "There's no and. I just find it fascinating."

Everyone groaned. A few people tossed their napkins at him.

Six and Holiday watched the exchange quietly. Holiday studied Circe who remained silent as her friends argued around her. She glanced over at Six who was finishing his meal. Six cleared his throat. The gesture was enough to bring everyone's attention on him.

He wiped his mouth with his napkin and placed it on his plate.

"You all make valid points. You don't get to choose your family, sometimes they are toxic and you need to cut yourself off or have as little contact as possible." He paused as he took a drink from his glass. "But I also know the past always catches up with you. If you don't deal with it now, you will have to deal with it later. The question is… when do you want to face it?" He directed the last question to Circe who stared back at him.

Her gaze shifted back to her plate.

"Circe? If you want to go, I'll support you. If you don't, go I'll support you too." Rex said quietly.

They waited as she took a deep breath. "I'm scared." She finally spoke. "I hate to feel this way. I don't want to see them. I want to pretend that they're dead. Then I can so oh well."

"So you're not going?" Beverly asked.

Circe met her friend's eyes. "No, I'm going. Because they're not dead and I have to know, for better or worse, I need to know, so I can move on."

"That's my chica." Rex said proudly.

"But you better be there." Circe smirked.

"Not even a horde of EVO's can stop me." Rex replied giving her hand a squeeze.


	4. Chapter 4

**Happy Memorial Day to those of us in the USA. This is the unofficial beginning of the summer.**

 **I do not own.**

Rex watched Circe from the corner of his eye. She fiddled with her spoon on the table. They sat in the local coffee shop that her mother had suggested. When they put the address into the GPS, it showed that is was just a four hour drive from Providence. Leaving early the next day, because traffic was unpredictable, they arrived early at the destination. After she paced a little outside, Rex suggested that they go inside and wait.

Circe looked like she was going to protest before quietly walking in. Rex followed her inside.

A portly matron smiled as they stood uncertainly by the door.

"How many?" She asked.

Circe was stumped. Should she say 4 or 2? Rex saw her hesitate.

"We're meeting some people here. Can we have a booth near the door?" He jumped in.

"Of course, hon." The lady waved for them to follow her as she grabbed two menus.

Circe slid into one side of the seat while Rex sat opposite her.

"Wait, what are you doing?" She asked him.

"Uh, sitting?" Rex answered wondering if it was a trick question.

"No, why are you sitting over there?" She fretted. "When they come, I don't want them sitting next to me."

"Oh." Rex realized what she meant. He scooted out of the booth and went over to sit next to her. "Better?" He asked.

Circe thought about that. She felt trapped because Rex was blocking the only way out.

"Can we switch places?" She asked.

"Um, sure." Rex got up and watched her slide out. He then moved in while she sat at the end.

"On second thought…" Circe said after a minute.

"Hey, hey." Rex put his hand on her shoulder. "Listen, everything's going to be fine." He reassured her.

Circe took a deep breath. "Yeah, okay." She agreed. Rex picked up the menu. Circe also picked it up but put it down without really looking at it. That's when she started worrying her spoon.

Rex continued to pretend to study the menu while keeping an eye on his nervous girlfriend.

The bell on the door rang. Circe's head immediately snapped to the door. A gaggle of teens entered chattering away. Circe breathed a sigh of relief as her body relaxed. Leaning back, she chided herself for being so jumpy. She had faced EVO's, maniacs, and EVOs who were maniacs. Why is meeting two ordinary people so daunting? _Because they abandoned you._ A voice inside whispered to her. She shook her head to clear out the thought. Staring at the spoon, her mind wandered. Images materialized in front of her: the look of disbelief on her mother's face when she revealed her "power." Disbelief was quickly replaced by fear and revulsion. An image of her father appeared in front of her mother. Anger and hatred poured from his face as he ordered her to leave. "GET OUT, CIRCE!"

"Circe!" The sound of her name snapped her out of her reverie. She looked blankly at Rex. He pointed at her hand.

Circe peered down. She had mangled the spoon in her hands. She dropped it on the table.

"Oops." She muttered. "Sorry, I guess I need to pay for that."

Rex swept the spoon onto the floor. "Don't worry about it. I'll leave an extra tip."

Circe gave him a wry smile. "What if they pick up the check?"

Rex was at a lost for an answer. Circe laughed at the look on his face. She patted his cheek. "Thanks for being here."

He grabbed her hand. "I wouldn't want to be any where else." He gave her hand a quick kiss. They leaned in when the tinkle of the bell made both their heads turn.

Standing in the doorway was a well dressed couple. The man was a head taller than the woman. His stern face wore a five o'clock shadow. A lady had perfectly coiffed hair and make-up.

"Circe, darling!" She cooed walking quickly to the booth. Circe stood up automatically. She gave a faint smile as the woman came over. Instead of a hug which is what Circe expected, her mother gripped her arms and gave her a kiss on both cheeks.

"Let me look at you," She held her daughter at arms length. "My how you've grown."

"Hello, mother." Circe said flatly. She pulled out of her mother's hold.

If the sudden distance startled her, she did not show it. She smoothly glided into the free seat opposite Rex. Her husband, who was standing behind her, sat down as well.

"This must be the boyfriend." Circe's mother turned her attention to Rex.

"Yes, ma'am." Rex held out his hand. "My name is Rex and it's nice to meet you." Circe's mother took Rex's hand in a limp handshake. He held his hand out to Circe's father, who grabbed his hand in an almost painful manner, crushing his fingers. Rex pulled his hand from his vice grip and gently massaged them under the table.

"Oh, don't call me ma'am. It makes me feel so old. You can call me Calista and him Jason." She said amicably.

Jason's frown deepened, however. "You call me sir." He corrected his wife. His deep voice held a note of irritation.

"So, mother, father, I see you are doing well." Circe interrupted them.

"Oh yes, we are." Her mother answered politely.

Then there was awkward silence.

Luckily, a waitress came to take their orders.

"Oh, we're not ready yet." Calista fretted.

"Would you like some drinks while you look through the menu?" The waitress suggested helpfully.

"Oh, yes, I'll have the dark roast with sweet and low." Calista said.

"Coffee, black." He said curtly.

"Orange juice." Rex said.

"I'll just have water." Circe told her.

The waitress wrote down their drink orders and left.

Calista and Jason picked up their menus. A few minutes later the waitress showed up with their drinks. She took their food order before leaving. When she left, the awkward silence resumed.

Rex cleared his throat. "So what have you been up to?"

Calista and Jason looked at each other. "We've been keeping busy." Calista said slowly.

"Yeah? Doing what?" Rex took a sip of his juice.

"Well, Jason is in real estate." Calista said. "I do interior designs. What about you? What have you been doing?"

"Well, Circe and I are in college." Rex started saying.

"Oh, is that where you met?" Calista interrupted.

"Um no. We actually met in Cabo Luna." Rex said truthfully.

"Oh, you went there for Spring Break?" She interrupted again.

"Something like that." Rex didn't want to get into the details.

The food came fairly quickly. Rex was grateful for something else to focus on. He wasn't sure why Circe wasn't participating in the conversation. In the next second, he wished she hadn't spoken.

"So why did you kick me out?" Circe asked suddenly.

The fork was half way to her mother's lips when she placed her fork down. Her eyes nervously darted to her husband. He took a large bite of his omelet. He did not seem fazed by the question. When he had swallowed the bite, he wiped his mouth with his napkin before placing it back on his lap. He looked unflinchingly at his daughter.

"You were an EVO and EVOs are dangerous. You saw what an EVO did to your friend. You saw the devastation it brought to our town." Her father stated matter-of-factly. "We had no idea what you would do."

"So instead of trying to help, you threw me out in the streets so that what? I would be someone else's problem?" Circe's voice became hard.

"What help? No one knew what was causing this… this disease. No one knew anything about it. We can only see the results of these monsters." Her father narrowed his eyes.

"And… and you had changed." Calista added weakly. "You use to be my sweet little angel. You did what we told you… then you started being defiant and angry. We thought surely the change had warped your mind. We didn't know what you'd do to us."

"Right. And what about after the cure? Why didn't you try to find me then?" Circe asked angrily.

"We didn't know where to start. We thought… we thought you had died." Her mother's words ended in a whisper.

"That's bull…" The clatter of a plate drowned out the last word. Circe looked coldly at them. "As far as I'm concerned, you can consider me dead, because you are dead to me. You were never my parents. You never wanted me. You just wanted a compliant doll. And the second I needed you… you abandoned me. Well, screw you!" With that, Circe tossed her napkin on her uneaten plate, got up, and left.

Rex saw the stunned faces of her parents. He was a little surprised himself but he had a job to do. It was a good thing Six gave him extra cash. He tossed several twenties onto the table.

"This should cover everything. It's nice to meet you. Please excuse me." He said as he downed his juice. He quickly got up to follow Circe. He came back and grabbed his toast before turning to leave again.

 **Sorry for the really slow updates. I haven't abandoned anything. I've been sick for the last few weeks. It makes it hard to write. I hope you enjoy.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own.**

"This is your fault." Beverly fumed at Rex.

"Me? How is this my fault?" Rex asked in astonishment.

"If you hadn't gotten on your high horse and told her to find her parents…" Beverly continued to rant at him.

"Hey, you of all people should know how important family is." Rex argued.

"That's different. I was lucky enough to have a family who never abandoned me no matter how bad I got." Beverly countered.

"But the lack of family was causing her to doubt all her other relationships." Rex explained.

"Oh, and this is _so_ much better." Beverly said sarcastically.

After blowing up at her parents, Circe requested that they return to Providence. On their way home, Rex tried to engage her in conversation. But other than a few grunts, she remained silent all the way home. When she got back, she wordlessly entered her room. Lunch came and went, as did dinner. At breakfast, she still hadn't left. Beverly knocked on her door but got no answer. In desperation, she got her sister's emergency medical override and forced the door open. She found her friend curled up in bed clutching her pillow. Circe glanced up before returning to her position. Beverly tried to coax her to come out and eat something. She refused and barely responded to Beverly.

After nearly the whole day passed by, Beverly lashed out at Rex.

"You better find a way to fix this!" Beverly poked a finger into his chest before storming off.

Rex rubbed the sore spot. He did feel guilty for opening this can of worms. But he honestly thought that Circe could work this out. Then she wouldn't be mopey every time the topic of families came up. He sighed. He was way over his head on this one. He had to call in the big guns…

0o0

"So what am I going to do?" Rex sat on the bench as his mentor battered a dummy with his fist and legs.

Six gave one last round house kick before turning to address Rex.

"You should have minded your own business." Six said flatly.

"Oh come on!" Rex threw up his hands. "That's not right!"

"That's not right for you. Did you ever think that sometimes people cope by shutting out their past? " Six asked.

"But we need to confront our past." Rex protested.

"Who says?" Six challenged.

"Well, what about confronting the past so you can move on?" Rex said a little unsure now.

"Sometimes it's best to confront the past indirectly, or bury it so you can move on." Six stated as he moved toward the door. But before he left, he looked over his shoulder. "If you're looking for a different point of view, I suggest you talk to Holiday."

Rex's face brightened. "That's right! Thanks…" He stopped. Six had already left. "And he's gone. But he's right I should have started with Doc in the first place. Why am I talking to myself?" Rex got up to find Dr. Holiday.

0o0

"Oh my." Holiday crossed her arm and furrowed her brow.

"Yeah, now your sister is mad at me, Six isn't any help, and I don't know what to do." Rex ended with a sigh.

Holiday tapped a pen against her chin but said nothing for a long time, so long that Rex was starting to get nervous. He cleared his throat hoping to get some reaction.

"You know Rex, maybe this wasn't your best idea." She said finally.

"Oh no, not you too." Rex groaned.

"No, no. It's admirable that you want to help Circe with her parental issues but I don't think she was ready for it." Holiday told him gently. "Traumatic experiences aren't usually solved by forcing confrontation. Although there is a school of thought that advocates that, I think it's too simplistic in its outlook on how the human psyche works."

"Can I get that in English or broken Spanish?" Rex asked.

"Rex, it takes time to heal from deep wounds. It might have been better for Circe to go for counseling first before confronting her parents." Holiday said gently.

"So you think I broke my girlfriend?" Rex asked guiltily.

"No, I think Circe is stronger than that. She needs time to process her grief, anger, and pain." Holiday said. "But we should keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't wallow too long. That's not healthy either."

"Sure, Doc. Maybe next time I'll run my ideas by you first." Rex suggested.

"It wouldn't hurt." Holiday agreed. "But what's done is done. We can still help Circe work through this."

Rex nodded sadly before leaving.

Holiday watched him leave before pressing her comlink. "Six, I need to talk to you."

0o0

Circe was confused. She thought if she really let her parents have it, she would be better. Unfortunately, the outburst left her feeling hollow and guilty. Added on was the guilt she felt for blowing off her friend and ignoring everyone else. But she just wasn't ready to face the world with her emotions being all over the place. A knock came at her door. She didn't answer. The door slid opened anyway. To her surprise it was Six. It was such a strange sight that she actually sat up and stared at him. He strode in and pulled a chair to sit down near her bed. They looked at each other in silence.

"What?" It came out harsher than she had expected it to.

"I heard Rex stupidly made you go find your parents." Six answered.

Circe opened her mouth to speak but then stopped. She furrowed her brow. Was it stupid? "I don't think it was stupid." She finally uttered.

Six raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He waited.

Circe tried to sort out her thoughts. "I mean, I wanted to find my parents too. I wanted…" She stopped. What did she want? "I wanted to tell them how angry I am at them for abandoning me. I want them to know how lost and scared I was when I turned EVO. I want them to know that they really let me down. I want them to…" She didn't know why but tears came into her eyes. "I remember one time when I was little… my dad bought home a bicycle. I was so excited but I could barely reach the pedals. He had to adjust it. I wanted training wheels but he said that I would learn faster without them. That afternoon I fell and scrapped my knees so many times… at the end I told him that I quit. He wouldn't let me. He told me that I wouldn't get anywhere in life if I was a quitter. So I got on and eventually got the hang of it." Circe paused. Six still said nothing. She continued. "And there was this time I got really sick. I had a really high fever and my mom stayed up with me all night. She put cold towels on my head and sang me to sleep. When I woke up, she was still in the chair next to my bed." She stopped again, the tears spilled from her eyes. "I guess despite everything I remember when they were my parents and took care of me and… they must have at some point loved me… and I guess, I still want them to love me because… I still love them." Circe buried her face in her pillow.

When her sobs subsided, Six cleared his throat. Circe looked at him with her red-rimmed eyes. "Things are not always black and white. There are shades of gray. You need to tell them what you told me and see what they say. There are always two sides to a story." Six let what he said sink in before going on. "Then you need to decide whether to reconcile or cut them out of your life. Either choice has consequences. I can't tell you which one you can live with. That's your decision. But whatever you decide will affect everyone around you because we don't live in isolation." Six got up.

Circe crinkled her brow. "That's it? That's all you're going to say?"

"Yes." Six turned to go.

"Dr. Holiday put you up to this, didn't she?" Circe couldn't help but give a smirk.

"Of course." Six answered.

"Why did you come? I mean, I'm sure didn't want to come and talk to a emotional teenager." Circe was curious.

"It would not be my first choice. But there are people I care about. We have a lot in common." He stood halfway through the door.

Circe cocked her head to one side. "What?"

"We both have trust issues. We both put up walls to keep others out so that they can't hurt us. And we both let a certain boy wheedle his way into our lives knocking down those walls so that other people can come in." Six smirked. "Rex may not always know what's best but his heart is always in the right place."

Circe nodded in agreement. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now we will agree that I was never here." With that Six disappeared through the door.

Circe sat in her bed deep in thought. She decided it was time to stop throwing herself a pity party and finally put her past to rest. Tossing aside her pillow, she stood up determined to take care of her past.

 **Sorry for the late updates. I've been sick the whole month and I still can't get rid of this cough. I'm trying to get back to the swing of things. School will be done soon and I hope to start some more stories soon. Enjoy.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own.**

"Are you sure you want to do this again?" Rex asked Circe. Circe was looking out the window of the jet plane.

"Yes." Circe said firmly. She turned to Bobo who was flying the plane. "We there yet?"

"Almost." Bobo was uncharacteristically quiet. Usually he would be teasing Circe or making crude jokes, but today he was almost respectful. If Rex didn't know better, he'd have thought that it was Robo Bobo.

"Thanks." She said.

Bobo just nodded. "Almost there."

"Why are you going through this again? What changed?" Rex was curious.

Circe sighed. "Lots of things that happened to me after they threw me out, really messed me up. I'll probably be working through them for the rest of my life. But telling my family to kiss off might not be a good start to dealing with this. I really should have heard them out."

Rex squeezed her hand. After a while she gave him a squeeze back.

"Get ready for landing." Bobo announced. A few minutes later, Circe was standing in front of her old home. Nothing much has changed. There was the exterior white vinyl siding, the white picket fence, and the neat little pebble and brick path that lead to a small porch. She looked up at Bobo, who gave her a thumbs up. "Anytime you're ready to go." He said. She gave him a grateful smile. He put his feet up on the dash board and pulled out a magazine. She looked at Rex who was looking at her.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Ready." She answered. They walked up the pathway.

0o0

"I'm sorry for my outburst." Circe said as she at a small table with her parents opposite her. Rex sat next to her. Pulling out some index cards, she started reading them out loud. "There's a lot of hurt I am processing through right now. But I guess I want to know why you did it. I was… am your daughter. Shouldn't you have tried to help me? Did I mean so little to you?" Circe stopped and looked at them expectantly.

Her mother dabbed the side of her eyes. Her father remained quiet but his dour look softened.

Finally, her mother took a shaky breath and spoke. "I guess we were scared." She said softly. "All those stories in the newspaper… we had no way of knowing what… what you might do… Later when we learned that some people can control their mutations…" She broke down and softly sobbed.

Her father continued. "We were scared. Remember Otis from down the street?"

Circe shook her head. She did not remember Otis.

"His son got the sickness. He tore through the house… killed his mother and sister before he was put down by Providence." His father said flatly.

"What about those things you said to me? About being a disgrace and an embarrassment to you?" Circe glowered at them.

"I was angry. I just saw all my dreams die when… I know I was being selfish. I know that now. You were always different and it was wrong of me to try to make you into me." Circe's mother took a deep breath before continuing. "I had a breakdown after you left."

That was unexpected. Circe looked at her mother in surprise.

She nodded. "I was in the hospital for over a year. I worked with a therapist. She helped me work through my issues. I realized how wrong I was. When I got out we tried looking for you."

"We didn't know where you were, or even where to start looking." Her father added. "We finally concluded that you had died."

"I'm not sure I can believe you." Circe answered.

"I know a trite, I'm sorry, isn't going to cut it. But maybe we can start slow. You don't have to pretend that everything is fine. But maybe we can start with dinner once a month." Her mother started.

"I guess… we can try that." Circe said slowly.

"We also want you to meet someone." Her father added. He got up and went to the bottom of the stairs. "Androtimos!"

"Yeah?" A male voice answered.

"Come down." He called.

There was the sound of the door opening and footsteps coming down the stairs.

A young boy appeared. "Yes, father?"

"Circe, meet your brother Androtimos." Her father said putting a hand on his son's back.

"You see Circe, I was pregnant when we found out that you had the sickness." Her mother said. "Your father was frightened for both of us."

Circe stared at the little boy who had her eyes and nose. She got up slowly and walked to the boy. They stared at each other.

"Hello?" The little boy spoke first. "Are you my sister?"

Circe nodded unable to speak.

"Ok, bye." He turned around to go back upstairs.

"Wait, Androtimos." His father ordered. "We're going to have dinner soon. Please go wash your hands and come back down."

"Oh, okay." Androtimos pouted as he went upstairs.

Circe looked at her father. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We didn't know how to bring it up. We were hoping that we could reconcile first." He said. "Androtimos helped us realize all the things we did wrong with you. Can you forgive us?"

It was the first time she ever heard her father ask for forgiveness. "I… I… don't know."

Her father looked disappointed. "I understand. I didn't think it would be easy. Hopefully, one day you can find it in your heart…" He trailed off and walked back to his seat.

His wife put her hand on his arm as if to comfort him.

"Circe, please stay for dinner and get to know your brother. I know we did you wrong but he never has. Stay and don't deprive your brother of his sister." His mother said.

Circe felt like it was emotional sabotage. "Look, you just sprung this on me." She could feel her anger rise. "I'm not sure how to feel."

Rex got up. "I think it's time to go. It's nice to see you again. Tell Andy, we'll catch him later." He ushered Circe out.

Once outside, Circe exploded. Can you believe them?" She practically shouted. "They just up and tell me that I have a brother! They replaced me and then ask me to forgive them. They almost had me until… I can't believe that they'd do that to me!"

Rex wisely waited for her to run out of steam. When she was done, he spoke. "Feeling better?"

"No! I'm not feeling better!" She growled. Running her hands through her hair, she paced around the front yard. "I need to go for a walk." She stormed off.

Rex shook his head.

"You understand why we did what we did." Her mother had stepped outside. She looked imploringly at Rex.

Rex paused a moment. "Ma'am, I'm not here to judge you. If anything, the Nanite Event has taught me that people do what they think is best… but what they think is best might not always be the best."

She looked at him questioningly.

Rex sighed. "I'm going to check on Circe." He left her standing on the porch.

0o0

Circe was walking on the side of the street when Rex caught up to her. He came along side but remained silent.

"Am I overreacting?" She asked.

"Depends on what you mean by overreact, I guess. You didn't blow down their doors or windows." Rex shrugged. "For the record, I don't think they were replacing you. She was pregnant before they found out you were… you know…an EVO."

"I think they just want to stop feeling guilty. They don't care about me!" She declared.

"I didn't quite get that either. They do feel bad for throwing you out but they thought they were protecting the baby. But I don't think they're trying to bring you back just to make themselves feel better. They just want to right a wrong." Rex said.

"You think so?" She asked him.

"Well, I think after the initial fear wore off, they probably felt really bad about throwing you out." Rex theorized.

"She did have that breakdown. I wonder if Androtimos was born before or after the breakdown?" She wondered out loud.

"You can ask, if you go back. But hey, you have a brother, like me." Rex pointed out.

"Except he's so much younger…" She paused. "I hope he's not crazy like Caesar."

"Hey! Caesar's not… well, he's getting better." Rex conceded.

"Okay, so where do I go from here? I can't keep being this angsty teenager that keeps blowing up at her parents." She said.

"I don't know." Rex admitted. "But you need to decide if you're going to let them be apart of your life or tell them to get lost. But either way you're going to need to forgive them."

"What?" Circe stopped in her tracks.

"Yeah," Rex turned to look at her. "If you don't want anything to do with them you have to forgive them and if you do want them in your life you have to forgive them."

"That doesn't make any sense." Circe declared as she started walking again.

"Look, Doc, helped me with this when I was angry at Caesar for that whole shooting-a-laser-at-me thing. Holding a grudge only hurts me. It gives the person power to hurt me all over again every time I think about it. So I have to drop it. It's not easy and forgive doesn't mean I necessarily allow them back into my life. It just means that I don't let the anger and hurt eat at me." Rex said.

"I don't think I can do that." She said in a small voice. "I'm not a saint like you."

Rex laughed. "I'm not a saint… but I am awesome." He gave her a toothy grin. She laughed and gave him a playful shove. "So what's it gonna be?" He asked.

She thought about it.

0o0

Three months later…

"So how's the therapy sessions going with your parents?" Walter asked offhandedly.

"A little slow. But we're getting all our grievances out. I think it's really helping. But Andy is real cute." Circe said brightening. "The other day he lined up all his dolls…"

"Action figures." Rex corrected her.

Circe rolled her eyes. "Action figures and had a meeting to decide if I could be in his secret club."

"So what did they decide?" Walter asked.

Circe rolled back her sleeve. A crudely drawn A with purple ink lay on her skin.

"Ha! That's cute… if a little disturbing." Tuck said.

"How is it disturbing?" Cricket asked. "We have nanite ink tattoos."

The little group sat around the table talking amicably about random things. Rex noticed that Circe did not withdraw any time family came up. She was open about her own situation. She and her parents were not buddies yet but the healing had begun. It also helped that Andy loved his older sister and Circe seemed to have a soft spot for him too.

"Oh, look at the time." Circe checked her watch. "I need to pick Andy up from his playdate so we can go on our playdate."

"Okay, have fun." Beverly called out.

Rex got up with her. "Hey, I'm proud of you." He told her.

"Why?" She asked.

"You took a bad situation and made it into… well, if not perfect… something better." Rex finished awkwardly.

Circe smiled. "Thanks. I couldn't have done it without you."

Rex puffed up his chest. "Well, you know me. I'm an expert on families."

"Mijo, can you come here? I need a test subject who can stand up to grueling temperatures." Caesar called from down the hall.

"Ack! Quick, pretend you didn't hear him" Rex turned the other way and ran to the hanger.

Circe watched with amusement before following him.

 **Sorry, for the delay. I developed bronchitis and wasn't feeling up to writing. But I hope you liked it. Not a lot of action just straight up drama. I am thinking up some new stories. I hope you stick around for them. Thank you for reading, reviewing and favoring.**

 **God Bless!**


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